POLITICS, ETHICS TOPIC OF MESSER LECTURES

For eight years, minister and religion professor Dr. Robison B. James was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, one of the world's oldest legislative bodies. At a moment in time when politics and the people involved are being mocked, James' experience leads him to deliver a message of reassurance and hope about both.

"If you organize it right you can make a go of it even if some of the people are not paragons of virtue," he says.

The University of Richmond professor will deliver this year's Messer Lectures presented by the Baptist Student Center at Southeast Missouri State University. The public is invited to all the lectures.

The first, "Ethics and Politics: Do the Twain Really Meet," will be presented at 7:30 tonight at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Cape Rock Drive and Perryville Road.

At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, James will speak on "Why Politics is Not a Dirty Word" during the Common Hour at Academic Auditorium. The final lecture, "The Ethics of Politics: Virtue and Virtuosity," will be given at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Indian Room at the University Center.

The forthcoming deliberations by the U.S. House of Representatives over whether President Clinton should be impeached illustrate one of the prime ethical dilemmas politicians are confronted with, James says.

Should the representatives vote the will of their constituents, most of whom don't want the president impeached, or should they vote their conscience?

To govern effectively requires "a messy compromise" between the two approaches, James says.

Money also poses a constant ethical dilemma for politicians. A politician who raises too little is going to get defeated.

James cites polls in which voters who have been subjected to saturation political advertising often use a candidate's exact language in expressing their views on an issue.

Fortunately, he says, candidates most often receive money from those on both sides of any issue.

American politics works because a candidate's one-sided presentation of an issue or himself will be countered by the opposition, James says, comparing the relationship to lawyers presenting their case in court. Like candidates, they don't talk about their weaknesses.

Cynicism is not necessary if you are aware of what's going on, he says. "Things should be better understood and not castigated in principle. Politics is not necessarily dirty."

James is a preacher's son who chose religion over music in college, though he still plays the trumpet in a faculty Dixieland band. He and his wife, Ann, a piano teacher and accompanist with the Richmond Symphony Chorus, have three daughters.

One of them is Dr. Elizabeth James-Gallagher, an assistant professor of voice at Southeast.

James started developing his ideas on ethics and politics when people kept asking him the same question: "What is a nice guy like you doing in politics?"

Now he teaches a course in which he attempts to reconcile politics and ethics. The subject could not be more appropriate these days.

He notes that many ministers are withholding condemnation of the president -- though not of his behavior. "A lot have wisely concluded that this is not an issue that they as clergy have a lot of expertise in," James said.

One problem for ministers involved in politics is that they can't talk about virtue without being accused of self-righteousness, James says. But he views super-righteous zealots as a danger.

"I'm a little worried about people who know what God's will is," he said.

His faith in the U.S. political process comes from the Founding Fathers' recognition that sinners would be running the government and their wisdom in devising our system of checks and balances.

He quotes James Madison: "Men are men, not angels. Otherwise, no government would be necessary."